Lost Word Of The Day (16)

One of the more bizarre proposals from a government that is becoming ever more delusional was the reintroduction of the imperial weights and measures systems instead of the metric system which has the distinct taint of Europe about it. There is, however, something fascinating about the terms used to denote measurements in days of yore.

One that piqued my interest, not least because it pertained to beer, is homerkin, a term that was used in the 17th century. There is some dispute as to precise measurement. Some think that it was the equivalent to ten bath tubs (around 75 to 100 gallons) although others point out that this was the volume to which the old Hebrew word “Homer” referred to. The presence of the diminutive -kin, some argue, suggest that it was a considerably smaller amount of beer, perhaps no more than half a homer. Either way, it was a large amount of beer, but how large was a Jacobean bath tub?

Sometimes a word raises more questions than it answers.